GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Wyoming man is just out of the hospital. He suffered a heart attack while running the Grand Rapids Marathon on Sunday.
Tim Ruff said he's just grateful to be alive and wants people to know the signs to look out for when it comes to their health.
"I just have to praise the people that were around me that day. It's not really my story, it's their story. They, they saved my life," said Ruff.
A calm crisp fall morning quickly took a dangerous turn on Oct. 20 at the 2024 Grand Rapids Marathon. Forty-Seven-year-old Tim Ruff from Wyoming said he was on the fourth mile when he felt a sensation in his legs.
"I just said, hey, I think I think something's wrong. I felt a tingling in my legs, and it went straight up into my just right to my head, and that's when I collapsed. So as far as warning wise, there was really no warning," said Ruff.
Ruff's partner Renee was running with him.
"She looked down and saw me collapse, and that's when she just fell to the ground and basically put my head in her lap. That was, yeah, the crazy part, the craziest part of the thing. It was all timing," said Ruff.
A cardiac nurse and anesthesiologist doctor happened to be running a minute behind Ruff. They tended to him immediately and did compressions that helped save his life. The ambulance was called and within five minutes of his fall, he was rushed to Butterworth Hospital.
"So basically the widow maker is what it is. I had a blockage, about two-and-a-half-inch blockage in my artery, and 100% blocked. When I did collapse, it was basically that my heart had stopped," said Ruff.
Ruff never had any heart issues before, but doctors told him he had a massive heart attack. He was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, just two days after the incident.
He said he hopes his story makes people aware of their health.
"Get checked out by your doctor, make sure that you do have a running partner with you, even a walking partner. I'm just glad that I have another day, I have another time that I can reach out to family, I can reach out to friends," said Ruff.
Ruff said he's still in a lot of pain but he's just grateful to be alive.
